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Most of us will never be astronauts -- sorry to break it to ya -- but we can at least pretend to be aboard the Orion capsule with this video (below the fold), courtesy of NASA. Orion's camera captured 10 minutes of footage from the time it started blazing through Earth's atmosphere until it deployed its parachutes to slow down its descent into the ocean. You'll even see the plasma (created by friction between the atmosphere and the heat shield) change colors as the capsule speeds up and temperature increases. NASA launched a test flight of the Lockheed-made spacecraft in early December to test its components, especially its heat shield.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule has been taking cargo to the International Space Station since 2012, but it's done so lacking the chops to shuttle humans into orbit. The firm's just unveiled the next generation of the spacecraft, dubbed Dragon V2, to remedy that, and it's designed to do much more than carry people. The new craft is reusable, can hold up to seven passengers and is designed to allow for swapping crew space for additional cargo. What's more, the vessel is able to land on solid ground with the accuracy of a helicopter -- as opposed to splashing down at sea -- without parachutes. Using eight SuperDraco thrusters, engines 3D-printed from a superalloy, the Dragon V2 can blast out enough force (16,000 lbf for each engine) to slow itself down for a landing on terra firma.

SpaceX is getting ready to reveal its next-generation space capsule tonight at its HQ in Hawthorne, California, and while we'll be covering it live, you can watch as it unfolds too. The firm's setup a stream (which we've included after the break) for the proceedings, and they're set to get started at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT. So, what's the big hubbub about this new craft? It'll be able to carry humans into space, not just cargo. That's something the first Dragon wasn't outfitted to for.

Update: And it's over! Elon Musk showed off the Dragon V2, get all the details right here.

We told you about it late yesterday, but now it's about time for the livestream of SpaceX's Dragon capsule reaching the International Space Station. If all's going as planned, the craft would've begun some preliminary maneuvers toward the ISS roughly an hour ago. According to the company, astronauts aboard the ISS will attempt to grapple it with a robotic arm at 6:36AM ET. If that's successful, the actual berthing of the capsule is set to begin at 8AM. Don't take our word for it, catch the NASA TV live feed (coverage starts at 3:30AM) at embedded after the break!

Here's to wishing that all continues to go well overall on this resupply effort!

Update 8:21AM: Dragon was captured at 5:31AM and the berthing process is currently taking place. The capsule should be fully in place by roughly 9:40AM! We've also updated the feed past the break, as it was originally pulling from NASA TV's public feed, rather than the ISS feed -- apologies for any inconvenience.

Update 9:03 AM: Dragon was successfully berthed the space station at 8:56AM, ahead of scheduele like much of the event. And with that, NASA has ended coverage of the event. Now those onboard the station will be focused on unloading the supplies it's carrying. Dragon will return to Earth for a splashdown on March 25th. As always, hit the NASA source link for more detailed info. Catch a picture of Dragon attached to the ISS's Harmony node just past the break.

Didn't get enough of the Dragon capsule launch this week? Good news, because after a day's delay due to (now remedied, according to NASA and SpaceX) faults with three clusters of its Draco thrusters, the capsule is set to be grappled by the International Space Station at 6:31AM ET on March 3rd (tomorrow morning). If you'll recall, the mission is mainly aimed at getting refreshed supplies and some experiments up to the space station. As an aside, NASA also notes that Dragon is still set to arrive back on earth for a splashdown on the 25th, as initially planned. If you're up for it, NASA TV coverage starts at 3:30AM the same day and the final berthing process (actually getting the capsule connected to the ISS) should happen after 8AM -- all that said, initial "orbital maneuvers" are set for 2AM, according to a tweet from Elon Musk. For more details on this stage of the mission, including those involved, blast over to the NASA source link below -- and make sure you've got enough coffee ready.

While Felix Baumgartner landed safely on the ground just a matter of hours ago, the internet is still resonating with the sound of tweets, status updates and YouTube clicks, all thanks to what was one of the most spectacular human endeavors in recent history. The mission was simple, to send a man up in a balloon higher than ever before, and have him safely jump to the ground. This kind of "simple" is usually anything but -- if you just look past the well-manicured exterior. Which, as luck would have it is exactly what we did.

With the cheers of success still ringing in his ears, we got some quality time with Art Thompson, the technical project director, and Baumgartner's earliest collaborator on the Stratos mission. We wanted to know a little bit more about what went on behind the scenes, and Thompson was more than happy to oblige. They're understandably proud of what they just achieved.

Talk about building up the tension! Yep, our favorite Austrian daredevil is back out on the New Mexico desert, hoping the weather will hold, and he can finally fall into the record books. Don't forget, you can catch up on Felix Baumgartner's long journey to Roswell in our project overview, but if you're just here for the jump, no problem, as you can watch right here too. Currently conditions are looking like they might just go in Baumgartner's favor, despite some initial concerns about wind levels. But, as we found out earlier in the week, anything can change in an instant. Hold on to your hat (and your breakfast), and hop past the break to watch the events unfold live.

Update: Some spoilers lurk ahead if you didn't get to watch live and wanted to catch the event for yourself, so switch articles if you want to catch replays later on. For everyone else: it's a success! Despite some worries about heat going to the helmet visor that threatened the attempt, Baumgartner has at least unofficially broken records both for the highest-ever manned balloon flight and the all-important altitude record for a jump, either of which respectively occurred just over and just under 128,000 feet. Baumgartner also broke the speed record for freefall, although he was just short of Joe Kittinger's 4-minute, 36-second freefall duration. There's a media event still ahead that should provide more details, but for now we'd just like to welcome Felix back to Earth.

Weather may have delayed Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking "space dive" by another (no doubt torturous) 24 hours, but all going well, the wait is almost over. In just over an hour, proceedings will kick off, and you can watch them live, right here. The latest reports indicated that conditions remain favorable, with the team sending a weather balloon up into the stratosphere earlier this morning. The fun begins at 8:30am eastern, but all you need to do is grab a coffee then head past the break for the live feed.

Update: Pre-flight checks have postponed the set off. Earliest launch is now set for 12:30PM 1:30PM ET.

Update 2: Sorry folks, the launch has been called off due to gusty winds. The team said that tomorrow was a possibility, but until the weather gives way, Felix will remain firmly on the ground.

BASE jumping might just be about to enter the mainstream. What has typically been considered a fringe activity, reserved for thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, could soon be firmly cemented in the public view. For the uninitiated, BASE jumping is like skydiving, without the plane. Participants throw themselves off bridges, antennae, buildings, cliffs, and well, whatever high object they can find. It's not illegal, "in theory", but as many of the chosen launch spots are public or private property -- or pose a risk to public safety -- gaining access to, or jumping from them, can mean stepping over the legal line.

This otherwise obstreperous activity has largely kept to itself, occasionally popping up in magazines, or YouTube videos, but -- all going well -- on Monday that changes. Serial boundary pusher (of wing suit across the English Channel fame) Felix Baumgartner is set to leap, in the most literal sense of the word, from relative obscurity into the history books. How? By jumping to earth from the edge of space, likely breaking the sound barrier as he does so. How does one go from humble Austrian beginnings to a capsule 120,000 feet (about 23 miles) above the Earth's surface? Make a comparatively tiny leap past the break to find out.

Sir Richard Branson might want to look over his shoulder, since Virgin Galactic now has an even more ambitious rival. Britain-based Excalibur Almaz is planning no less than a trip to the Moon using reworked, Soviet-era Salyut space stations and Soyuz capsules as the vehicles for the multi-stage, 500,000-mile total voyage. Accordingly, no one will be living in the lap of luxury on the way there: there's just two habitation modules that will take three people each, and the six-month trip isn't going to leave much room for perks other than an isolated room in the event of a solar radiation blast. Not that there's as much of a rush given the efforts involved in making this look-but-don't-touch Moon orbit a reality. Anyone who travels needs to be in tip-top shape -- and the £100 million ($156 million) ticket will make Virgin's Spaceship Two rides seem downright frugal. Be sure to pack your gym shorts and a briefcase full of cash.

SpaceX's Dragon docked with the International Space Station on Friday, but if you think the involved crew is spending the US long weekend experimenting with how well grills prepare burgers in low gravity (hint: not very), you're in for a bit of an awakening. The private space capsule's hatch flew open just before 6AM ET on Saturday, and while that's a historic first docking for a private spacecraft, it's just the start of a long process. At the same time as we'll be catching fireworks on Monday, the ISS team will bring onboard the 1,014 pounds of cargo and science experiments that Dragon hauled as proof it could fulfill a 12-mission, $1.6 billion cargo delivery contract. Don't think the spacefarers won't get any time off for Memorial Day weekend -- they'll get Saturday and Sunday for reflection -- but the 25 hours' worth of cargo shuffling on Monday will spill over into Tuesday, just as we're all stumbling back into our offices on Earth.

Even if you squint real hard, you won't find Andie, Max or that rogue robot Jinx stowed away in that inner sanctum above. In fact, there are no humans on board Dragon whatsoever, given that this mission -- the first successful private / federal partnership with NASA -- is strictly cargo-only and a test flight to boot. After suffering several launch delays, Elon Musk's pet project finally achieved lift off this past Tuesday, giving space heads reason to exhale, all the while proving to the world that a new era in interstellar exploration has just begun. En route now to dock with the ISS and deliver its payload, SpaceX's capsule, the interior of which measures 14.4ft (4.4m) by 12ft (3.7m) and is filled with dehydrated astronaut food, clothes, supplies and student science experiments, will spend about one week tethered to that international outpost before crashing into the Pacific on its return trip home. Hit up the source below to gawk at additional shots of this spacecraft's maiden voyage.

After being scrubbed a few days ago, it appears we are just minutes from viewing the launch of SpaceX's Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket. The plan is to become the first private company to successfully deliver cargo to the space station, as a step towards manned missions and eventually, Mars. Launch time is officially set for 3:44AM ET, and you can view it live via NASA's UStream embedded after the break or on SpaceX's feed at the source link. Assuming all goes well it will be a few more days until we actually see the capsule dock with the ISS, and we'll keep you updated every step of the way.

Update: This time the launch took place on schedule, and the Dragon capsule is on its way to space. NASA has a press conference planned for after the launch coverage ends at 5:15AM.

Speakers these days! They are everywhere, in constantly evolving iterations, smaller and more versatile than ever before. Singaporean manufacturer X-mini has a pretty good foothold in this game with a consistent brand message of "Sound Beyond Size." That indicates the portability, mass, and reproductive capacity of its products in a pretty nebulous fashion, so we decided to grab its latest offering, the Bluetooth-toting KAI, and place it in our real lives for a few months. It's available now for $99, which will take it off the table for many casual listeners, but those who crave what's next in distributed audio might find KAI to be quite the ear-opener. We got pretty close with it (but not weird close), and we have a couple of things to say about that whole size / sound relationship they're so keen on.

With the Space Shuttle now officially grounded, NASA has been researching alternatives for ferrying astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station, orbiting some 230 miles above the planet. One such vehicle has made its way from Boeing's HQ to the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, where a full-size model is on display for conference attendees. Externally, the spacecraft appears very similar to the reentry modules of yesteryear, measuring 14.5 feet with room for up to seven people. The craft is designed to make its way through the atmosphere mounted to an Atlas V rocket, and is rated for up to 10 roundtrip missions. As is typical with spacecraft, it looks like astronauts won't be traveling with first-class accommodations -- things will likely feel quite cozy when the CST-100 is at capacity -- but such conditions come with the territory. There's no date set for delivery, but the craft could be making its way to space as early as 2015, and has reportedly been tested in the Nevada desert as recently as this month.

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aircraftAtlas VAtlasVaviationBoeingBoeing CST-100BoeingCst-100capsuleCST-100international space stationInternationalSpaceStationISSnasaNational Space SymposiumNationalSpaceSymposiumrocketsshuttlespacespace capsulespace shuttlespace stationspace travelSpaceCapsuleSpaceShuttleSpaceStationSpaceTravelThu, 19 Apr 2012 17:54:00 -040021|20219902http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/07/boeings-cst-100-to-shoot-non-nasa-astronauts-into-space-by-2015/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
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Day job just too darn terrestrial? Maybe you should score a gig at Boeing, which'll apparently sling two of its very own into space come 2015. What'll be their chariot? The company's CST-100 -- you know that spiffy capsule that can hurtle a lucky seven humans 100km into the dark abyss. Strapped to ULA's Atlas V, the crew will follow two unmanned missions, eventually reaching the International Space Station. If that all goes to plan, commercial service will start in 2016. Now about those extra five seats...

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Atlas VAtlasVBoeingBoeing CST-100BoeingCst-100capsuleCST-100international space stationInternationalSpaceStationrocketsspacespace capsulespace stationspace travelSpaceCapsuleSpaceStationSpaceTravelSun, 07 Aug 2011 12:56:00 -040021|20011266http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/19/nasa-awards-270-million-to-spacex-and-other-commercial-spacefli/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
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NASA has given its seal of approval (and a lot of money) to SpaceX and three other private companies, as part of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) initiative -- a program designed to spur the development of U.S. commercial spaceflight. The agency awarded a total of $270 million to the four lucky winners, with Boeing receiving $92.3 million to help develop its CST-100 capsule design, and the Sierra Nevada Corporation garnering $80 million, which will go toward its shuttle-like Dream Chaser craft. The smallest prize ($22 million) went to Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, which is reportedly looking to create a cone-shaped craft capable of carrying crew members into the abyss. And then, of course, there's SpaceX, the proud recipient of a cool $75 million in NASA funds. The California-based company has already successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule, and is currently working on the Falcon Heavy -- a 22-story craft heralded as the "world's most powerful rocket." NASA's extra dough should give a little boost to SpaceX's projects, but the funds are contingent upon improvements in Dragon's crew-carrying capacities, to be carried out over the next year. If all goes well, we may see one of these companies launch an intergalactic 'taxi' service by the middle of the decade. Saddle up!

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blue originBlueOriginBoeingcapsuleCCDEV2Commercial Crew Development Programcommercial space flightCommercialCrewDevelopmentProgramCommercialSpaceFlightCST-100developmentdragondream chaserDreamChaserfalcon 9Falcon HeavyFalcon9FalconHeavyjeff bezosJeffBezoslaunchmoneyNASASierra Nevadasierra nevada corporationSierraNevadaSierraNevadaCorporationspacespace exploration technologiesspacecraftSpaceExplorationTechnologiesSpaceXThe Boeing Co.TheBoeingCo.Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:54:00 -040021|19917205http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/24/lockheed-martin-shows-off-orion-spacecraft-new-underground-lair/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi
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No, that's not the Apollo command module you're looking at up there. What's old is new again in space design, and what's floating weightless above this text is a photo of humanity's next great chariot into space. It's the Orion spacecraft from Lockheed Martin, commissioned for NASA and designed to carry a crew of four not just for trips into orbit but well out into the solar system. Lockheed Martin has just taken the wraps off the thing for the first time, also showing off its new Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC), located neither in Houston nor Cape Canaveral. It is instead dug into built atop the bedrock in Colorado, theoretically isolating it from seismic and other disturbances so that the testing crew can do their thing without any outside interference. In that bunker the ship is currently testing ahead of a planned first launch in 2013, taking a crew into orbit as soon as 2016. Mars? That might be another few years.

Update: John wrote in to point out that the facility is actually built on some bedrock, not within the bedrock. So, it's not an underground lair after all -- but it's still a lair by golly.

Update 2: There's a vid charting the Orion's development included after the break.

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Well, SpaceX just scored a huge milestone in space travel for the proletariat: we get to come back now. The FAA just gave SpaceX's Dragon capsule a reentry license, paving the way for it to make round trips to the International Space Station and eventually even take people up there. NASA, who already has some hefty contracts with SpaceX for launches, has congratulated SpaceX over Twitter on the good news, though we're sure the few billion dollars in future business speaks volumes already. Engadget's own Chad Mumm, resident Space Destiny Enthusiast, had this to say about the momentous occasion:

"We're standing on the shoulders of our ancestors, reaching out a small, child-like hand at the stars. And then returning safely to earth thanks to FAA certification. We're on the verge of the impossible."

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It's not expected to make its first jaunt to outer space before 2014, but Boeing's "low-cost" Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) will allow up to seven Earthlings to travel up to 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The best part? Once you spend up to seven months docked at the International Space Station, you'll rely on "the aid of parachutes [as you head] to an airbag-cushioned landing on dry ground." Something tells us the crew of Jackass will be all over this in just a few years.

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awesomeBigelow AerospaceBigelowAerospaceBoeingcapsuleCrew Space Transportation-100CrewSpaceTransportation-100CST-100galaxynasaspacespace capsulespace travelSpaceCapsulespacecraftSpaceTraveltraveltravelingVisualizedwildThu, 22 Jul 2010 20:40:00 -040021|19564439http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/02/drugs-arent-bad-in-eve-mkay/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
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One of the interesting features of EVE Online is that it has a drug trade in which players are actively engaged. Rather than merely being an illegal commodity, drugs -- called boosters -- enhance the performance of EVE's pilots, albeit with some potential side effects.

To understand boosters though, we'll need to look into the game's setting a bit first. The thing to remember is that as a player, you're a capsuleer. You're not standing on the bridge of your ship barking orders at subordinates. Rather, you're floating inside a metallic capsule deep within your ship. Your mind is interfaced with the ship you pilot via neural implants, thus your vessel is an extension of your body and its senses; you regulate the ship's activities merely by thinking about them. Not all people in EVE's setting of New Eden have the raw potential to become a capsuleer, making your character one of the elite. However, when faced with others of your caliber in combat, every possible edge you can gain over rival capsuleers helps. That's where boosters come in... they're your edge. Boosters augment aspects of your mental processes and thus provide certain bonuses when piloting your ship.